How many tribes are there really?
Madison, Philomath, OR. Heard this question during a fellow Native student’s thesis defense about her work with increasing Native student retention in k-12 programs.
Who doesn’t have a little identity crisis?
Ben, Madison, WI. Every time I think about race, especially when I’m asked to indicate it, I feel three things: anxiety, resentment and shame. Anxiety:...
“What are you? Let me guess.”
Reem Totonchi, Madison, WI. The guesses are almost never correct, unless they come from a fellow Middle-Easterner. “Where are you from?” they ask, eyes smiling...
I’m white I’m not white trash
Madison, West Bloomfield, MI. I don’t have much to say. But I am a white girl, and I have been called white trash before, I...
Are you the insurance salesman, dear?
Mike Lynch, Madison, WI. I was the only white person at my girlfriend’s family reunion. Before I had a chance to introduce myself, her Great-Aunt...
Under everything, we are the same
Ally C., Madison, WI. People need to realize we are made up of the same bone structure. Our anatomy makes us, us and the color...
You’re the doctor?! Not a nurse?!!
Nima Scott, Madison, WI. I’m a Black, dreadlocked woman who works in a psychiatric facility. My first week on my unit a Black patient incredulously...
I can’t be a police anymore
Anonymous, Madison, WI. I’m from Madison, WI, where Tony Robinson was killed by police. I’ve been studying at UW Madison in the Legal Study field...
But..you don’t have slanted eyes
Judith Molthen Nelson Madison, WI Remarks made when I tell people I was raised in Thailand.
A representation of society as a whole.
Ryan Owen Milwaukee, WI The problems we see in our schools are a result of the bigger problems that are acceptably in grained in our...
My ancestor might have owned yours.
Kathy Miner Madison, WI My father’s mother’s family proudly claims an ancestor who signed the Declaration of Independence. At some point, as an adult, I...
They didn’t call my great-grandparents white.
Eitan Greenholtz Madison, WI I am an Ashkenazi Jew; my great-grandparents came to the US from the Russian Empire, where they, as Jews, were not...
When Color Becomes Excuse for Character
Scott Gomer Madison, WI No matter which color our skin, certain perceptions seep into our common consciousness. Why do some people live up (or down)...
Everyone’s too afraid to discuss race
John Swissler Jr. Madison, WI It is usually said that the two topics you never raise in polite conversation are religion and politics. But my...
